Kvick Tänkare

io9 has a cool post about abandoned places that are being reclaimed by nature. This bit about Korea’s DMZ is worth a look.

In related news, South Korea is applying to make part of the DMZ a ‘biosphere reserve’. While North Korea is a terrible regime, let’s face it, the day it falls poachers and developers will drive the flora and fauna of the DMZ into extinction. I’m sure some population will see a buffet of exotic food items, aphrodisiacs and folk remedies to plunder.

Across parts of Australia, reports have been pouring in of strange voices chattering high in the treetops — mysterious, non-sensical conversations in English… It turns out that escaped pet birds, namely parrots and cockatoos, have begun teaching their wild bird counterparts a bit of the language they picked up from their time in captivity — and, according to witnesses, that includes more than a few expletives.

Can instructions about how to manipulate nuclear armed drones be far behind?

How’d you like to live in a country where a problem that makes the news is that the nation is in the second month of a ‘national butter shortage‘.

As Sweden’s butter shortage enters its second month, the dairy industry is still struggling to meet demand and shelves in supermarkets up and down the country remain empty. Blame is being directed at the new back to basics cooking trend, full fat diet fads and young people turning their backs on farming.

Scientific American has a blog post encouraging scientists to engage with social media. Linked to that is a presentation the author gave setting forth her argument. I can’t help thinking that most of what she writes is equally applicable to analysts.

Read this great (yet depressing) article about the winners and losers in Iraq. Bottom line: It ain’t us…or the Iraqis.